Electrically-heated flatiron



July 7, 1925. 1,544,563

L.. C. DOANE ELECTRICALLY HEATED FLTIRON Filed Feb, 10, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WV I// f/////f///W/v ,12W/ amaro R July 7, 1925.

L; c. DOANE ELECTRIGALLY HEATED FLATIRQN Filed Feb, lO, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 L. C. DOANE ELECTRICALLY HEATED FLTIRON July 7, 1925.

Filed Feb: lO, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 f S Y i..

ww g\ f5 7 5 y @j Patented July 7, 1925.

' lUNITED STATES LEMY C. DOANE, OF EAST CLEVELAND, 40R10.

l ELECTIABICALLY-HEATED FLATIBON.

Application led February 10, 1923. Serial No. 618,286.

To all 'wlwm z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, LEROY C. DOANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga 5 and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electrically-Heated Flatirons, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying j drawings.

This inventionrelates to improvements in electrically heated devices, particularly fiatirons equipped with a circuit controller for automatically maintaining a constant temperature of the iron.-

Flatirons equipped with automatic heat controlling devices electrically coupled to the heating element have heretofore been used, but considerable diiliculty has been experienced in maintaining a constant temperature without employing complicated controlmechanism which is subject to frequent breakage. Usually the controllers have been positioned adjacent the end of the iron where the heat generated from only a portion of the filament can affect the controller. Accordingly, the point where the filament is more or less concentrated would be heated to an excessive degree before the rear portion 0f the iron would attain sufficient heat to open the controller. Moreover this construction necessitated an odd shape of hood which detracted from the appearance of the iron. Furthermore this `results in a distorted iron, whereas an object of this invention is to elii'ect'the results with a construction all within the confines of a standard artistic form of iron. Y

One of the objects of my invention therefore, is the provision of a simple, efective construction of the elements comprising the body of the iron to facilitate production methods and manufacture, while providing a construction which causes theheat of the ironing surface to govern the action of the circuit controller.

My invention also contemplates an arrangement of controller and` associated ele-v ments whereby the heat in the base of the iron and adjacent the central portion thereof is used for actuating the controller. In this connection, my invention is directed toward a construction which permits the controller to be positioned adjacent the midportion of the iron thus enabling the use of a hood having a smooth uninterrupted surface ad'acent the-rear of the iron.

Anot er object is to eliminate anynilectrical connections carried by the casing or cover of the iron, while at the same time providingfor a holder or guide for the cord plug or like connection member removably engageable with the current carrying ter-A minals projecting through the cover.

Other objects will become apparent from 05 the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the essential features will be summarized in the claims. v

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical longi- 70 tudinal section through an iron constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2 is a view showing the relation of the co-operative parts orming the iron; Fig. 3 is a plan view of an iron having the hood removed, and having a portion of the inner parts broken away to indicate the controller construction; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are sections on correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 3 and drawn on enlarged scale; Fig. 7 is a 30 circuit diagram; Fig. 8 is a'plan A1view of the iron; Fig. 9 is a vertical longitudinal section through parts of the iron showing the means for attaching the handle to the hood; and Fig. 10 is a ers ctive view of the 85 strain and stress dlstri uting member used for attaching the' handle to the hood.

My invention in general, embodies a construction Which permits the heating element to be readily replaced without replacing an entire iron and also embodies the use of a circuit controller which ma;Y be readily positioned-within the body of the iron without materially increasing the size thereof. Accordingly, I have illustrated the various parts of the iron as comprising a base 10, a heatin plate 11, a body comprising an interme 'ate plate 12 and a top plate 13, a hood 14, handle supports 15, and a handle 16. Within the iron, I provide av circuit controller electrically coupled in series with the heating element for automatically controllingY the temperature ofthe iron.

The heating element 11 embodies a'lament 48 preferably disposed intermediately 105 but insulated from an upper layer of light sheet metal 20, and a lower layer 21. Suitable Contact leads 22 and 23 connectedY with the ends of the filament project upwardlyy from the rearward end of the sheet 20, as ,110

cuiting' the heating filament. I have shown,

the element as having a centrally disposed rectangular opening 24 whereby the heat imj parted to the base acts by convection currents on the controller.

The intermediate plate 12 may comprise a casting, shaped similarly to the base 10 and heating plate 11. An opening 26 similar to the opening 24 in the velement extends through the plate for receiving the circuit controller. The side walls 26 of the opening extend beyond the under surface of the plate to form flanges 27, which extend into` the element opening 24 and serve to protect the circuit controller from the direct radiation of the heating element.

Superimposed upon plate 12, I provide an upper plate 13 which may also comprise a castinghaving a recess on the' under surface thereof into which the support for the circuit controller is placed. This plate is shown as solid throughout substantially the entire portion thereof, but is well adapted for the reception of an electro-static control device, such as a. condenser, whenever desired. Suitable securing members 29 and 30 are illustrated as extending through the superimposed plates and attached to the base 10. When assembled, the plates provide a hollow box-like opening within the middle portion of the iron into which Ithe circuit controller is positioned.

The circuit controller which I prefer to employ embodies as shown in Fig. 3, one contact member 35 which is carried by a rigid bar 36 and another contact member 31 which is carried by a flexible strip 37. The strip 37 is preferably anchored at one end intermediate a thermostatic bar 38 and a support 40 and is shown as provided with an adjustable screw 34vadj acent the free end thereof. When heat is applied, the bar 38 is moved away from the bar 36 whereupon the head of the screw 34 is brought into engagement with the end of- Athe strip 37, thus breaking contact between the points 35 and 31. The members which carry the contact points are disposed in a vertical plane whereby arcin is prevented when the iron is in use. 's is advantageous over the use of an iron wherein the strips are disposed in a horizontal plane because of the fact that the impact of the iron upon the work would tend to separate the contact points, thus causing arcing which quickly destroys the contact points.

The support comprises ablock of insulating material 40, which depends within the opening 26 and is suspended intermediate current carrying members 41 and 42, which in turn are electrically connected to current carryin plates 43 andv 44 respectively. These p ates are suitably insulated from each other and froma housing 45 which holds the plates in operative relation to each other. These plates and the associated housing are shaped to fit snugly within the recess 28 in the cover plate so that the exposed lower face lies in approximately the same plane with the lower face 47 of the plate. This permits the plates 12 and 13 to be brought into close-fitting engagement with each other and aids materially in maintaining an even distribution of heat through the iron.

The contact members 35 and 36 together with the associated contact plates 43 and 44 are electrically connected in series with the heatingelement 48 as follows Current enters the iron-through a terminal post 50, passes through the plate 44, bracket42, bar 36, contact `point 35, contact point 31, strip 37 bracket 41, plate 43, lead 22, filament 48, lead 23, strip 51 and then passes out through terminal post 52.

This construction permits the circuit controller as a unit to be removed from the iron and also permits the heating element to be separately removed for repair purposes without replacement of the entire iron. If desired, the controller may be positioned within the recess by means of the securing screw 30, which functions to hold the cast parts together, but to -prevent any possibility of short circuiting, I prefer to secure the controller separatelyto the ton plate 13, as by securing screw members 53, passing through openings, as at 54, Fig. 4.

The method of mounting the cord plug terminal pins 50 and 52 upon the upward lio extensions of the plate 44, as shown, pervmits these pins to project through openings in the cover into the terminal plug holder being insulated from the cover by are usually u'sed and which afford so much diiiicultyin assemblin and in use.

To enable the weig tof the iron to be satisfactorily supported and at the same time to permit the use of a thin shelled hood, I employ a load distributing member 60 which 1s disposed within the hood 1 adjacent the ends of the handle supports 15.

This member 60 is illustrated as a flat strip having the sides struck upwardly, as at 63 and 64, and havin the intermediate portions struck upwarly, as at 65 and 66, to provide tongues for receiving the ends/of the handle supports. This construction is shown particularly in Figs. 9 and 10 wherein the ends of the handle supports pass through openings in the top of the hood, and then extend around theends of the member 60. The extreme inner ends of the supports arethen positioned intermediate the tongues and theexposed sides of the member. A single screw 67 may then be employed for holding the hood in proper position on the iron.

The plug guide is shown as formed by a strip 80, secured by the handle clamping bolt 82, and having tongues 84 curved outwardly and inwardly from each side of the strip,- while the lower end of the strip is secured by a port 15.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that my invention provides an iron wherein the heat may be automatically controlled and regulated, and which possesses advantageous features of ease in assembly and replaceability. The relative position of the heating element to the circuit controller and cast parts is' such that the controller is protected from the direct ra 7s of the heating filament and yet is embedded within the iron in close proximity to lthe filament whereby the neceary weight of the iron may be obtained without increasing the size projection 85 'through the supof the iron.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. An electrically heated flatiron comprising in combination, a base, a plurality of body members disposed above the base, a comparatively thin flat heating element having a resistance filament therein, means for removably securing the heating element intermediate the base and one of said members, said element and one of said members having registering openings, a circuit controllen-electrically coupled to said filament, and means for protecting the controller from the direct rays of the heating filament.

2. An iron having a base and a plurality of superimposed weight members, a heating filament disposed intermediate the base and members, and a circuit controller electrically connected to said filament, said controller being carried by one of said members and positioned within another member but in close proximity to the mid-portion of the filament.

body members positioned upon the base, an

electrical heating element disposed intermediate the base and said members, one of said members having an opening therein adjacent the central portion thereof, a thermostatic switch electrically connected to said element and extending downwardly from one of said members through said opening, said member being so shaped adjacent the controller that the controller is exposed to the heat in said base, but is protected from direct radiation of said element.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a base, of an electrical heating element removably positioned thereon, a plurality of body members superimposed on said element, one of said members having an opening adjacent the central portion of the heating element, a circuit controller carried by the other of said members and depending within the opening, said controller being electrically connected to said element, and a baille disposed intermediate the controller and the element for protecting the controller from the direct rays of the element. A

6. In a. device of the character described,

.the combination with a base, of a heating element superimposed thereon,said element comprising a filament, and a housing therefor, said housing having an opening extending therethrough, a plurality of body members superimposed on the element, one of said members having an opening in registration with that in the housing, a circuit controller disposed within the opening in said member, and a ange extending downwardly from said last mentioned member and projecting through the opening in said housing, said flange serving partially to position the element and to protect the controller from the direct heat rays of said element.

7. In an electrically heated ilatiron, the combination with a base member, of a plurality of body members superimposed thereon, one of said members having an opening curring due to impact of the iron with the work is prevented.

8. In an electrically heated latiron, the combination with a base, of a heatingelement associated therewith, said-element comprising an electric resistance iilament, a thermostatic switch electrically coupled to said lilament, and 'positioned above said base, the contact members of said switch being disposed for operation in-a horizontal plane whereby arcing is prevented by impact of the iron and work.

9. An electrically heated flatiron comprising a basev member, -a heating member and a body member above the base member, terminals for the heating element projecting upwardly, a support having downwardly project-ing electrical connections carrying means for removably securing said projections directly to said terminals, said sup port having rigid upwardly extending arms carrying co terminal plug engaging pins, and meansyfor electrica ly connecting said pins through the support to said terminals, and-a cover for the iron having openings through which-the pins project.

10. An electricall heated flatiron having in combination, a member, a heating element for the basepmember having 11pwardl projectingterminals, a heat responsive evice governing the current to the heating element and a support for said heat responsive device, abody member above the base carr ing said support, there being downwar ly projecting terminal members adapted to be movably and firmly fixed by direct connection, the heating element, terminals and an upward projection from said support carrying the cord plug pins, said support being so4 arranged that current may pass from one pin through the heat rasponsive circuit breaker and through the heating element, and then to the other pin, a cover for the iron said pins project.

11. In an electrically heated flatiron, the combination of a base member, 'a heatmg member above the base member, aheat responsive circuit breaker and support therefor, said sup rt including insulating means for electrica connections to and from the circuit breaker of the heating element, andmeans rigid'with the support for carryiri upwardly projecting terminal pins, an means projecting downwardly from the suphaving openings through which .A

element for the base member and a body port for rlgid connection to terminals of the and a removable cover for eat-ing element,

which said terminal pins the iron through reject.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiiix my signature.

LEROY c. DOANE 

